Kadapa, July 16 (IANS) Hockey Karnataka, Telangana Hockey and Hockey Andhra Pradesh clinch victories in their respective women’s matches, while Telangana Hockey, Hockey Karnataka, and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu won their respective men’s fixtures on Day 5 of the 2nd Hockey India Junior Women and Men South Zone Championship 2024.
As per the group stage results, the women’s competition will feature Hockey Karnataka and Hockey Andhra Pradesh in the final while Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu will play Kerala Hockey in the battle for third place, tomorrow. In the men’s fixtures, Hockey Karnataka and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu will face off in the Final whereas Telangana Hockey and Hockey Andhra Pradesh will vie for third place.
In the first women’s fixture, Hockey Karnataka defeated Kerala Hockey, 5-0. A team effort from Karnataka saw goals from Disha M (1’, 31’), Rakshita J (9’), Manish Ponnamma Cd (12’), and Deepika R (30’) to secure the win for Karnataka.
In another women’s fixture, Telangana Hockey defeated Le Puducherry Hockey, 2-0. Captain Anitha Kethavath (24’) and Chituru Sandeep Raj Bhavishya (40’) were on target for Telangana.
The final women’s match of the day saw Hockey Andhra Pradesh defeat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, 6-2. Thokala Yuvarani (5’, 7’) scored twice quickly to give Andhra Pradesh a good start. Her efforts were amplified by goals from Bobbili Jhansi (9’), Ankitha Bommu (21’, 35’) and Lalitha Kotari (24’). Jayshalini S (13′, 51′) scored both goals for Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu.
In an early afternoon men’s clash, Telangana Hockey defeated Le Puducherry Hockey, 4-3. Telangana’s Captain Manoj Aggu (2’, 7’, 9’) was in fine form, finding the back of the net thrice within the first ten minutes of gameplay. Captain Keerthivasan (17’, 46’) and Dharshan (31’) did well to keep Puducherry in the contest, Nithin Banavanth’s goal (38’) proved to be the difference and ensured victory for Telangana Hockey.
In the second men’s match of the day, Hockey Karnataka edged past Kerala Hockey, 6-5 in a hard-fought encounter. Dhruva BS (3’, 15’) scored a brace for Hockey Karnataka, along with goals from Annam Shanmuka (22’), Raju Manoj Gayakwad (26’), Achaiah MM (34’), and Kiran Reddy (48’). Kerala Hockey’s goalscorers included a brace from Anish Minz (24’, 41′), consecutive goals from Muhammed Kaif (46’) and Kannan SM (46’) and a late goal from T Yadav Ram (55’).
In the final men’s fixture of the day, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu defeated Hockey Andhra Pradesh, 3-0. While the first three-quarters of the match saw no changes to the scoreline, the Tamil Nadu side rallied to score three goals in the final quarter through P Kuberan (50’), Kamalesh K (51’), and Vishal S (59’) to guide their team to victory.
–IANS
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